Latch mechanism



May 24. 1927. l s E. McPARLIN 1,630,093

LATCH MECHANISM Original Filed Feb.. fi.. 1925 sectional view of a Patented May 24, 1927.

UNITED STATES srEPHnN'n. mcrnn'rnrmor cr'rIcAeo, ILLINOIS.

Laren MEcHANIsM.

Application led February 4, 1925, Serial No.6,742. Renewed April 4, 1927.

-Myinvention relates more particularly to latch mechanism for swinging doors which are leither relatively heavy, as in the case o doors of cold storage buildings, or otherwise present considerable resistanceto open One of the primary objects of my invention is to provide ay construction of latch mechanism whereby the door may be unlatched and moved' to open position b a single act of the operator, and prefera ly unlatched and opened by either a straight ull .by the operator located at the outer'sur ace of the door, or by a straight push exerted by the operator at the inner surface of the door, to the end that a separate handle for opening the door, after 1t is unlatched, may be obviated. Another object is to provide for the automatic latchingV of the door in the swinging of the latter to closed position; another object is to provide a construction o latch device, particularly having the characteristics above stated, which may be app plied to operative position on either a right hand or left-hand door; another object is to avoid 'shock or undue jar to the hand of the operator in closing the door.

' Referring to the accompanying drawings: p

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation o portion of a door-equipped wall, showing my improved latch mechanism applied thereto. Figure 2 is a plan sectional view of the structure shown in Fig. 1, the vstructure in these two views being shown in latched osition; and Figure 'l a fragmentary, p an ortion of the structure shown in the .preceding figures, this view showing the latch mechanism in released position. y

The particular illustratedconstruction in- 'volves a supporting plate 5 adapted to be applied to the face of a door and secured thereto as b means of the screws represented at 6, t is plate being provided at one end, with a boss 7 aperture'd asxindicated at S, v and at its `opposite end with a strap member 9 secured to the plate 5 as, by screws 10 an forming between its ends a guide portion 11 for the latch bar hereinafter described,the lplate 5`between its ends bein provided with spaced-apart lugs 12 exten ing lengthwise ofthe plate.

' The latch bar referred to isrepresented at 13,*this bar being slidable in the guide portions 8 and 11 and carrying at its outer yokeshaped, end 14, a roller journaled t eren ,ber 5 with the parts as represented at 16. The bar 13 between the boss 7 and the stra 9, is provided with a f head 17 between w ich and the boss 7, a

coiled spring 18 surrounding the bar 13, is confined, this spring yieldingly forcing the bar 13 to the right in Figs. land 2.

Extending between the lugs 12, and pvotally supported thereon at -a vertically-disposed pivot 19, is a lever 20, one end of which, represented at 21, opposes an. in-

vclinedcam-face 22 on the head 17, the other end of this lever, and represented at 23, be-

ing provided with a removable handle portion 24 shown as extendin upwardly and at an angle to the lever 20, t being spaced a suiicient distance from the adjacent portions of the latch mechanism, to permit the operator to readily grasp it without obstruction. The arrangement of the parts described is such, as shown, that when f the lever 20 is rotated in counter-clockwise 'direction as in Fig. 2, as for example to the' osition shown in Fig. 3, the latch bar 13 will be shifted to the left against the action of the spring 18 for disengaging it from the keeper hereinafter referred to. v

The mechanism shown also comprises l a ush rod 25 which is pivotally connected at 26, to the arm 23 of the lever 20 and extends rearwardly therefrom through an opening 27 in ,the plate 5 to alford means whereby the lever 20 may be'rocked, for shifting the latch rod 13 against the action of thespring 18, by a pushing action instead of by a ulling action as in the case of the use o the hand grip 24. v

The mechanism also involves a keeper represented at 28 adapted to be applied to a plate portion 29 tothe front surface of the wall surroundingthe door o ening, as by bolts represented at 30, the ik containing a recess 31 adapted to cro-operate with the roller 15, and being beveled beyond this recess, as indicatedl at 32.

In -the arrangement shown, a portion of the wall surrounding the door opening of d a cold storage room, .isrepresented at 33,

is handle portion the. door-opening at 34 and the door cony trolling the opening at 35. The platememcarried thereby is "shown as secured to the outer face of the door 35 yand the push rod 25 isl shown as i slidingly extending through aligning openings 36 in the door 35, whereby the expandedinner portion 37 of the push rod is ex-4 v g posed for operation, at the inner surface of the door. The keeper 28 is secured to the outer surface of the wall 33 in such position that the latch-bar 13, in the normal position of the latching mechanism extends into the recess 31 and maintains the door v, 35 in closed position.

To release the latch-bar 13 from the keeper 28 and open the door 35 from the outside, the operator grasps the handle portion 24 and pulls outwardly thereon thereby rocking the lever 20 and moving the latchbar 13 to the left in the drawings against the resistance of the spring 18 to a position in which this bar is disengaged from the keeper 28, and b continuing the pull on the lever pulls the oor open. To unlatch and open the door from the inner side of the door, the operator merely pushes on the push rod 25 which o erates first to disengage the latch-bar rom llthe keeper and thereafter, by continuing the pushing force, to push the door open.

It Will thus be understood from the foregoing that the door is unlatched and opened, by a single Voperation performed by the operator, namely, a pull when the operator is at the outer surface ofthe door and a push when the operator is at'the inner surface of the door.

The arrangement of the keeper relative Ato the other portions of the latching mechanism, is such, as shown, that the latch-bar 13 automatically interlocks with the keeper 28 at its recess 21, upon the mere act of pushing the door closed, the beveled surface 32 operating to cam -the latch rod 13 to the left in the drawings until the latter re isters with the recess 31 whereupon the spring 18 forces the latch-bar to a position in which il? is interlocked with the keeper as shown in It will furthermore be noted that the latching mechanism shown in the form illustrated and by reason of the provision of the vertical pivot for the lever 2O is adapted to be applied to operative position on either a right-hand or a left-hand door, the handle-portion 24 being positioned on the lever to extend upwardly, which is of considerable advantage inasmuch as it avoids the necessity of providing separate right and left constructions. Furthermore, a structure of the form described is not only durable and positive in operation, but by its use heavy doors may be rigidly manipulated and moved to closed position without shock to the hand of the operator.

While I Vhave illustrated and described a particular construction involving my invention I do not wish to be understood as intending to limit it thereto, as tbe saine may be variously modified and altered without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

Latch mechanism comprising a support, a latch-bar movable on said support', a keeper for engagement by said latch-bar, a spring urging said latch bar into engagement with said keeper, a lever pivotally supported between its ends on a vertical axis, said latchbar presenting a surface facing toward said keeper for engagement with one end of said lever, said lever when operated actuating said latch-bar against the resistance of said spring and out of engagement with said keeper, the other end of said lever being adapted to be grasped4 by the operator for actuating it, said latch-bar being adapted to move in opposition to its spring when riding against said keeper without actuatng said lever, and a push rod movable crosswise of the path of movement of said latch-bar and engaging said lever for actuating the latter.

STEPHEN E. MCPARTLIN. 

